Spurs 111 - 107 Clippers
Final
  for this game

Clippers, Spurs back to LA for Game 5

Apr 28, 2015 - 7:02 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Los Angeles Clippers tied their first-round series with the San Antonio Spurs and will go for the lead Tuesday night when Game 5 takes place at the Staples Center.

Down 1-2, and in San Antonio, Chris Paul led the Clippers to a 114-105 victory in Sunday's Game 4.

Paul had 34 points and seven assists to pace Los Angeles. The Clippers shot better than 53 percent from the floor two days after scoring 73 points and shooting just 34.1 percent in Game 3, both franchise lows in the playoffs.

"There is no momentum in this series, as we've learned," said Clippers coach Doc Rivers. "It's just two good teams fighting."

Paul, who had seven points in Friday's 100-73 loss, was 11-of-19 from the field and scored 22 of his 34 points in the second half of this one as the Clippers stayed ahead of the reigning NBA champions.

Blake Griffin chipped in 20 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists, J.J. Redick added 17 points and Austin Rivers and Jamal Crawford combined to score 31 off the bench in the win.

NBA Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs on offense again, scoring 26 points after setting a postseason career-high with 32 on Friday.

Tim Duncan warmed up after a slow start to get 22 points and 14 rebounds, but the Spurs never led over the last 14-plus minutes. He became the first player in NBA history to log 9,000 minutes in the postseason.

Despite those great individual performances, the head coach was not pleased.

"I think in general we lacked a lot of discipline," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "The only way to stay in those games is to play defense and not make mistakes and we made too many."

The Spurs committed just eight turnovers on Sunday, but didn't make enough plays late.

Duncan did not score in a tight first quarter featuring six lead changes and four ties and he contributed just two points in the second as the Clippers led by as much as six on Paul's late 3-pointer.

He bounced back with 10 points in the third quarter and the Spurs took their first lead since four minutes into the second on some free throws with around 4 1/2 minutes left.

But the Clippers, led by Paul, scored 12 of the final 18 points in the quarter to carry an 81-76 cushion into the fourth, taking the lead for good.

Griffin opened the final period with a bank shot on the way to Los Angeles building a 13-point lead. The Spurs were never closer than five points after that.

Game 6 will be Thursday night in San Antonio.






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